Torticollis

When Kaylee woke up this morning, she was still in a lot of pain, but it was a little better than yesterday.  I woke up at 4 am with a spot in my head.  Woke back up at 5:30.  Got up for good at 7:30 and laid on the couch all morning.  When both she and I got to feeling a little better, we slowly got ready and I took her to the walk-in clinic, which was open even though it's Veteran's Day, thankfully.  The doctor there remembered Kaylee, which surprised me since she's only been there like twice before.  He diagnosed her with Torticollis, or "Wry Neck", and was surprised because he said you usually only see that in babies/small children.  Which is what I said when Kaylee brought it up as a possibility.  I figured it was a pinched nerve.  She was right.  She cannot move her head in certain directions, it's like locked in, the muscle is hard and taut, her head stuck off to the side.  Her shoulders are way uneven, she's just all messed up.  I kept calling her "Quadimodo".  She said "I don't know who that is!"  I said "Google it".  She wasn't in the mood, so when we got to the doctor's office, we were sitting in the waiting room, and I pulled up Quasimodo and held up the phone to her, and she BURST out laughing.  So did I.  We were snort laughing.  Couldn't stop.  She said "You're terrible!  That's so MEAN!"  So I said "But I'm not wrong."  She started laughing again and said "No, you're not wrong."  Then she made me text her the photo, which she sent to a friend of hers and told her friend I was calling her Quasimodo, and her friend said something like "For Shame, Laura!" Totally worth it.  I couldn't stop laughing even when we got into the doctor's office.

Fortunately, there's something they can do.  The odds are that this is what she had a couple years ago when she had a similar problem, and it took weeks to resolve.  This time we have muscle relaxants, which he said should have her almost back to normal in a couple days.  Cyclobenzaprine.  After one pill she could already straighten her head up and bring her shoulders more even.  She said it still hurts, but not as bad, and she can at least move it.  She also said it makes her skin feel a little tickly, which would bother her except she's also feeling rather mellow.  The doctor said not to drive on it, so I took her to youth group tonight, because she really wanted to go.  (Also, she can't turn her head to safely look for traffic, so...)  She's supposed to take these pills 3 times a day.  She has a script for basically 6 days worth, which she probably won't need.  She also has a doctor's note for tomorrow in case she has to miss school, but she's planning on going.  I hope she doesn't have a test, since she's a little too mellowed out on it.  ;)   She is not allowed to practice Encore dancing stuff yet.  So all in all, she's feeling better, on the mend, and very mellow and relaxed right now.  ;)

Me, I had a hard day.  It was another one of those two-fers, where I have a headache Day One that I can kick.  I used a little oxygen, and a couple doses of over the counter meds, and it went away after lunch.  I made a lovely dinner, I had no triggers, I felt great when I went to bed, perfectly clear.  And woke up at 4 am for Day Two of the headache that I cannot kick without the big guns.  Oxygen, the ER  cocktail of decongestants, excedrin and mucinex, Advil then Tylenol, protein, water, caffeine, everything I can do, and it just went downhill in a hurry.  I think maybe I'll see about calling the doctor for an appointment to talk about sinus issues and see what he has to say.  It's been increasing in frequency, and going from one day every now and then to two days in a row that are a problem, about every 3-4 weeks.  Can't handle it, and won't have the supplies needed to combat that frequency either.  *sigh*.  So that's what's up on my end.

But if you need to smile again, just picture Kaylee laughing her head off at that picture of Quasimodo in a waiting room while trying not to move her head off of its tilt.  It still makes me laugh.  ;)